The W.K. Hancock Prize recognises Australian scholars who have published an outstanding first book in any field of history. The Prize was instituted in 1987 by the Australian Historical Association, to honor the contribution to the study and writing of history in Australia by Sir Keith Hancock. Since his death in 1988, it has served to commemorate his life and achievements.

Reto Hofmann earned his PhD in history from Columbia University and recently taught at Monash University. In his book, published by Cornell University Press in 2015, Professor Hofmann uncovers the ideological links that tied Japan to Italy in the interwar period, drawing on extensive materials from Japanese and Italian archives to shed light on the formation of fascist history and practice in Japan and beyond. Moving between personal experiences, diplomatic and cultural relations, and geopolitical considerations, Professor Hofmann shows that interwar Japan found in fascism a resource to develop a new order at a time of capitalist crisis.